Our day began with the debut hoist of our Loveshack spinnaker to keep Hot
Stuff gliding along in the diminishing winds. We nine fair maidens gazed up in
awe at the peaceful breathing heart logo - it is such a beautiful sail. Once
again our teamwork rose to the occasion with two perfect hoists and drops. 10
days of rigging lessons, learning about poles and sails and trimming and all
other things sailing all came together today.
When we began to plan our half way party we visualised a spa day,
champagne, canned strawberries and a nice civilized Arabian celebration. As you
can imagine it didn't turn out quite as planned...
4pm came and Hot Stuff blared out the stereo. Nine maidens as you have
never seen them before marched up the stairs, faces streaked with multi-coloured
war paint and handmade musical instruments in hand. There were fenders,
whistles, fog horns, spoons - you name it we had it. The next half an hour is a
bit of a blur ... we are not so sure what came over us ... but we think the
flying fish may have been a little scared. There was definitely some loud
singing/shrieking, the song "show me your dirty face" by example prompted some
questionable photos, out of tune homemade pringle box guitars, 'Hot Stuff' on
repeat on the radio - and the five dented water bottles at the end were evidence
that some of us took the musical activity a little more seriously than others
when trying to rein-act the xylophone.... battered bottles ahoy!
And that was before the champagne bottles were popped ... see NO10 on
previous blog - nine girls really can have a lot of fun without alcohol!
We wish we could put into words what the sunrises and sunsets look like and
how they make us feel every night and every morning so that you could share the
magic with us - but we can never find the words to express how mesmerizing they
are. Tonight felt extra special. We finished our halfway party, illuminated by
the warm rich tones of the sun on the horizon, with a toast to Neptune and
Poseiden. We cast off our hopes and dreams to the sea inscribed on nine paper
boats. They are now sailing their own journey in the middle of the
Atlantic.
In the 360 degree sunset we reflected on what it means to us to have
reached our halfway point, 1350 miles from land in any direction, on our magical
carpet ride:
"A massive personal achievement. Something out of my wildest dreams that I
never thought I would be capable of"
"...free..."
"The true meaning of travelling"
"This must be the furthest I will ever be in my life from a Big Mac
Meal"
"Pure exploration and discovery"
"50 years ago on my first sail on the Pacific, the Atlantic had never
crossed my mind. And now I'm halfway across on my way to St Lucia, and I'm
loving every minute!"
"For me it means just the beginning of a new adventure as it's made me want
explore wild places and undiscovered lands through the best from of travel in
the world, under sail."
"The most remote I have ever been and ever will be from my friends and
family ... at least until space travel ticket prices drop."
"I'm just glad that the worst of the weather is over (touch wood) and that
we are all safe and sound."
With love, your nine fair
maidens.